The Journey Inward

Today’s post is mostly about animals. I have some answers thanks to my local colleagues. The other day I mentioned my bird app and also that I may or may not have a pteradactyl fly over my house on the regular. I heard that same bird call while the three of us were meeting the other day and asked the ladies about it. T said her son is obsessed with that bird. He’s huge, has a long beak and poops gigantic poops. All the things childhood dreams are made of. Anyway, it’s called a hadeda and that scream truly sounds prehistoric. She cracked up at my assessment.

E is an animal person and she told me about the conservation center she’d taken her kids to last weekend. I told her I want her itinerary for anywhere she takes her kids that is animal related! She told me they saw this mynah bird who is brilliant and can talk, but is quite naughty. Today we were both freaking out because there was a mongoose on campus. Missing my pups, I told her to catch it for me and tame it at her farm so I could keep it. She had just been telling me about the meerkats they did that with! I asked her if she knew the story of Rikki Tikki Tavi, but she was not familiar. I loved the book when I was little and my kids loved the video. Click here if you’re up for a misunderstood mongoose turned hero story. E told me there was a blue monkey outside her classroom last year and a few years ago, there was a baboon. He had been kept by a family and tamed, but had escaped.

After happy hour tonight, I was walking to my car with El, a fellow teacher at the school originally from Belgium. She has designated herself as my guide and resource, which I appreciate! I pointed up and said, “Those birds are really living it up in that tree,” motioning to the squawking birds up there. “Those are bats!” she said, and I got in my car. El had me stop by her room today and she has the most gorgeous bunnies! I sent G a picture and she responded, “You could make some pretty good yarn out of them.”

More

I have not seen any free standing houses here. These homes are in gated communities.

We use skeleton keys here. They’re cool looking, but super inconvenient and unreliable. It took me 10 minutes to lock my garage door today before I left for work. I now have to add in time whenever I have somewhere to be.

A house is not for sale, it is on show.

There are roundabouts or speed bumps every 100 yards or so. I’ve gotten quite good at the roundabouts, but like back home, people get confused about who’s yielding and who’s got the right of way.

The guard station at my school opens the trunk of every car and sweeps something under it when we enter.

Two muralists were working on a beautiful painting on campus today and I paused to watch them work.

The windows don’t have screens. I love having all of mine open, but at night the bugs come in to fly to my lights.

El invited me out for drinks tonight. She said teachers often go on Friday nights to a bar around the corner. It was such a great place, with more outdoor seating than inside. There was a guy playing live music who was amazing! He played country songs, but also George Michael! I ordered a Belgian blonde beer and it was HUGE! Another teacher came and ordered a hamburger and fries. I wanted something unique, and to try braai, the BBQ here, but other than a huge platter, there weren’t any options. El and I split a Hawaiian pizza and it was delicious. The crust is a thin tortilla. Yum!

Tonight when I got home, I set up my digital picture frame. I sat and watched it for 15 minutes. That was 99.8% missing my people and .2% I have no tv! I also opened a card from Jan to be opened my first week of school!

It’s been a good first week, though I haven’t been sleeping great at night, so it’s catching up to me tonight.